Long story short, I have to begin retraining the employee who is my backup. Starting tomorrow, he is to shadow me whenever I am doing a task that he may be unfamiliar with. He's gone through training once, didn't take appropriate notes or pay attention, claimed he had no questions, and then panicked when I took two days off. Supervisor asked him what happened and he claimed he hadn't been trained for the situations that came up. (I did not train him the first time, but was nearby. Trainer went over everything.)

How do I politely ask him to take notes so that this issue doesn't arise again?

I think you can tell him that you are aware he has already been trained once, and you expect he'll want to take notes this time. Perhaps document it in an email you send him before training begins. A heads up kind of thing.

In addition to bluntly telling him to take notes, I think you should sit down for a few minutes after each day of training and write up a short summary of the tasks that you train him on. Share the summaries with your supervisor. If his future performance is poor, those notes could be helpful to whomever has to address the issue (as well as covering you).

I think that whether you should tell him to take notes comes before how to tell him to take notes. Does your supervisor see it as the job of the primary person to document work instructions, or the job of the backups to create whatever documentation they find necessary to perform the tasks?

The way training tends to go here is that the trainee takes notes as they go on whatever they deem to be important. Each position has a compiled book of notes/print screens/SOPs that the new employee has access too. The person who trained my backup left an impeccable reference binder for him, but backup did not take any notes at all during training, saying that he "got it". It's clear now that he "got" nothing.

I think that this time I will keep a log of which scenarios we go over by order number, and just give him copies of examples without him asking. As in, "Here is a good example of X. Put it in your binder."

The part that terrifies me is that I'm taking an extended leave at the end of the year.

I've had this before. After hearing, "No one ever showed me how to do this!" from the same person about the same thing I *knew* I had shown her, I made a plan. The next time I taught her, I waited until the end. Then I asked if she had any questions. She said she was fine. Then I had her sign a document acknowledging that she had been trained in that task, and felt ready to perform said task.

I would use phrases like "You're going to want to write this down" or "I'll wait so that you can get that into your notes". Make the instruction part of your training session.

I would also have this person repeat back or go through any processes after they are explained. "And that's how you color code the widgets! To ensure that I explained it thoroughly, why don't you walk through the process and I will let you know if it's correct."

I would also summarize what you went over and email it to the boss and this person, just so everyone is on the same page as to what you discussed. If this coworker feels that something in the summary was not explained, then there is an opportunity to say so as a reply to that email... not after you leave.

I've had this before. After hearing, "No one ever showed me how to do this!" from the same person about the same thing I *knew* I had shown her, I made a plan. The next time I taught her, I waited until the end. Then I asked if she had any questions. She said she was fine. Then I had her sign a document acknowledging that she had been trained in that task, and felt ready to perform said task.

She never pulled that stunt on me again.

Hee, hee, hee.

I was going to suggest something like this, to document that you trained him and that he acknowledged the training.

I've had this before. After hearing, "No one ever showed me how to do this!" from the same person about the same thing I *knew* I had shown her, I made a plan. The next time I taught her, I waited until the end. Then I asked if she had any questions. She said she was fine. Then I had her sign a document acknowledging that she had been trained in that task, and felt ready to perform said task.

She never pulled that stunt on me again.

Hee, hee, hee.

I was going to suggest something like this, to document that you trained him and that he acknowledged the training.

I agree. A signed training log will go a long way to prevent the "I wasn't told that!"

Logged

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Another thing to do is have the trainee perform the task, with you watching. That way you are there to correct any issues. And then have them do the task completely from their notes.

I used to work in a lab. I had written up standard operating procedures for every test we ran. When I was training someone, I would have them watch me the first time. Then they would do the task with me watching and prompting them. Then I'd have them do the task on their own, following the instructions in the SOP. I'd be there but I'd keep my mouth shut. It had a secondary effect in that it allowed us to catch any deficiencies in the SOPs. I'd automatically just do any step I forgot to write down but someone learning? That missed step was crucial.

Logged

After cleaning out my Dad's house, I have this advice: If you haven't used it in a year, throw it out!!!!.

When I train new people, I make sure they have copies of the process documentation in front of them and have them follow along while I do the task. Then I have them do the same task. The next day, they do the task on their own without me looking over their shoulder and I check the work afterward. Throw 'em into the pool and see if they can swim!

Also you could show them the task once, and then watch them do the task.Or you could tell them they need to document how to do the task (then you can use if for the next person) and you could see if they missed anything (or you missed telling them anything)

Another thing to do is have the trainee perform the task, with you watching. That way you are there to correct any issues. And then have them do the task completely from their notes.

I used to work in a lab. I had written up standard operating procedures for every test we ran. When I was training someone, I would have them watch me the first time. Then they would do the task with me watching and prompting them. Then I'd have them do the task on their own, following the instructions in the SOP. I'd be there but I'd keep my mouth shut. It had a secondary effect in that it allowed us to catch any deficiencies in the SOPs. I'd automatically just do any step I forgot to write down but someone learning? That missed step was crucial.